Skydance beat its first earnings test as a merged company, and CEOs David Ellison and Ynon Kreiz moved immediately to convert the win into internal momentum. Hours after the Paramount side of the business hit its revenue goal and topped profit projections in the third quarter, the two executives emailed every employee to say the numbers belong to them.

"The progress we've made is a direct result of your contributions," Ellison and Kreiz wrote in the memo, which Business Insider obtained.

The quarter is the first since the Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery mega-deal closed last month. Five weeks into the combination, the CEOs reported that leadership teams are in place across the company's three segments — Skydance Studios, Direct-to-Consumer and TV — and that integration is "well on our way."

What did the memo actually promise?

Ellison and Kreiz restated the three strategic goals they set on day one:

• Establish Skydance as "the premier global content engine and the home of the world's leading storytellers"
• Accelerate the integrated direct-to-consumer streaming platform
• Optimize the "highly profitable" linear TV portfolio, anchored by CBS

They paired those goals with a hard financial pledge: at least $6 billion in annual savings and efficiencies from bringing the two companies together, a target they say is "already seeing real results."

The scale argument is the core of the pitch. Skydance now controls Warner Bros. studio, Paramount Pictures, HBO, CBS, CNN, Paramount+, HBO Max, Pluto TV, TNT, HGTV and Comedy Central. "We will lead in a crowded market by using our scale, assets and global reach to drive transformation and growth," the CEOs wrote. The implied benchmark is Netflix and Google's YouTube — tech-native rivals the memo says the new company has the size and library to fight.

The memo also promised a unified technology platform spanning streaming, live and linear television, plus a culture pledge to "earn trust every day" by communicating directly and following through on commitments.

Why did the stock fall anyway?

Investors were not persuaded. Shares slid 2% in after-hours trading after briefly jumping more than 4% on the results. The stock has whipsawed since the merger closed: it soared over 8.5% on Monday after previously falling more than 11% from pre-merger levels.

The reason is debt. Skydance carries roughly $79 billion of it, and that load sits at the center of analyst concern about whether the company can grow profitably.

"The newly merged Skydance comes with massive debt that remains at the center of concern over the company's ability to profitably grow," Forrester media analyst Mike Proulx said in commentary published before the earnings report.

What changes for employees?

The $6 billion savings figure looms over the workforce. Skydance has said the majority of the savings will not come from layoffs, but employees are bracing for cuts and stiff internal competition as Paramount and WBD teams merge.

One policy is already decided. In late October, Skydance ordered staff back to the office five days a week — or offered them a buyout if they refused.

The memo closes with a direct appeal to that anxiety. "The reason we're so optimistic about getting there is you," the CEOs wrote. "Everything we've done so far, and everything we hope to build, starts with our people."

They signed off simply: "Keep up the great work! — David and Ynon."

For practitioners, the takeaway is straightforward: management has set its public scoreboard — $6 billion in savings, three strategic pillars, a unified tech stack — and the first quarter of results cleared the bar. Whether the market accepts that scoreboard depends on how fast the $79 billion in debt shrinks.